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On the Loggetta, there are three oblong allegorical reliefs representing allegories of the island of Crete (left), of Venice in the form of Justice (centre), and of the island of Cyprus (right). Two of them are by Sansovino's pupils Danese Cattaneo and Tiziano Minio, but in that in the middle the subtle gradations of the surface, the ambivalent movement of the central figure, and the pure classical forms of the reclining nudes all reveal Sansovino's hand.
The picture shows the Allegory of Crete. The territory of Crete, under Venetian rule from 1205 to 1669, is presented as Jupiter who was raised on Mount Aigaion on Crete and fathered Minos, the first king of the island.
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